This too shall pass.
I’m ready to start taking on more web design clients now that the big push to get FriendsForFamilies.com is over.
I thought I’d take the opportunity to do a redesign of my business site, Asheville Technologies.
I spent a long time trying to come up with a sharp look that remained down-to-earth at the same time. I wanted to emphasize the way I approach web sites, working to make something unique for each client, and building it from the ground-up.
Let me know what you think!
So…you forgot that this blog used to focus more on web development and the Internet, didn’t you? No? Well I seem to have, so here’s a re-qualifying post to try and get things back on track.
Since I added SeoMoz.org to my regularly-checked RSS feeds, I’ve enjoyed many of the informative posts they have made. Recently, they featured two articles which hit home with me.
How to convince a client their site doesn’t need music was a good one. Web sites that force music upon you really grate on my nerves. Luckily, I have never had to make such a site on purpose or on accident, though I have had people ask. The explanation that usually wins the conversation for me is the one about visitors to a site already having music playing in their speakers. Just hit Myspace on any given day, and discover how annoying it is to have people’s favorite songs start blaring at you when you load their profile.
Along the same lines of client coercion relationships, they posted How to Convince a Client They Don’t Need a Splash Page. Splash pages were cool in 2000, but have since given way to usability and search engine approachability. At least in the parts of the Web where common sense rules, anyway.
My favorite quote from the article:
When we have clients who are thinking about Flash splash pages, we tell them to go to their local supermarket and bring a mime with them. Have the mime stand in front of the supermarket, and, as each customer tries to enter, do a little show that lasts two minutes, welcoming them to the supermarket and trying to explain the bread is on aisle six and milk is on sale today.
In other news, Sitepoint just released a PDF report titled The State of Web Development. The interesting part was that AJAX is quickly gaining popularity (as if I had to tell you that), and looks to overtake Flash within the next couple of years. Wow. From one inaccessible technology to another! This is progress!
At least AJAX isn’t so proprietary.
Lastly, Google announced Google Code Search today, which looks like it could be pretty useful. I haven’t played around with it enough to find out what it can really do, but they say it can find any crawlable code. I doubt this means server-side technology such as PHP, but you could at least use it to find people who have ripped off your WordPress layout.
Oh, speaking of WordPress, ThemePress just launched, which allows you to upload a layout, and converts it to work with WordPress. It costs $10, which sounds pretty reasonable if it works well. I plan on trying it out for TheBestOfYoutube.com soon, so I’ll let you know what I discover.
If you are a fan of The Simpsons, you might want to read this. You can now watch every episode of The Simpsons online for free. I don’t know how they are getting away with that, and it might not last very long, but it’s there and working, commercial-free. I never knew how Santa’s Little Helper got his name until last night.
On the TV tip, as the new seasons begin to rev up, I am eagerly awaiting Battlestar Galactica. In the mean time, I am watching the DVD set of Firefly that I acquired from Target for 18 clams. I am digging it, though it saddens me knowing that only one season ever existed…
What are you looking forward to this fall on TV?
For a limited time, FriendsForFamilies.com is offering a 1-year full membership to the site for $1.99. Normally the price is $19.99, but because we just launched the site, we are excited to get members signed up.
What’s to lose? You can sign up and see who you can find in your area for next to nothing!
When Internet Explorer 7 is released at the end of the year, it will totally abandon support of HTML frames on web sites. Web accessibility geeks are cheering this development, while frame-based Geocities web site owners are in a tizzy.
Now that the site has launched I’ve had a little time this weekend to sit down and catch up on some things. One of those things includes this blog!
A few of you might be interested in the new gallery of pictures I posted. Some of these are from our trip to Louisville a few weekends ago. You’ll see Gray having a ball at Bowman Field thanks to my old pal Jeremy.
The rest of the pics are just random adventures with the boys. I am seriously considering selling my Olympus C5050 in favor of something more compact that will slip into my pocket. I think I’d end up taking a lot more pictures this way.
So yeah…that’s that for now. Enjoy.
I am proud to announce the birth of the secret project I have been developing full-time (and then some) since April.
Ladies and Germs, I bring you FriendsForFamilies.com.
“FriendsForFamilies.com is the premiere Internet service completely dedicated to helping families find other families in their local communities that share common interests, beliefs and life circumstances. It is a company created by families for families to meet a need of families.”
This has been the biggest project I have ever had the pleasure of working on. It’s pretty massive in scope once you sign up and get inside.
Check it out, sign up, and let me know what you think!
So I’ve been pulling 60+ hour work weeks in anticipation of launching the big project I’ve been doing since May. It’s supposed to happen September 1, and I’ll be able to disclose things then. Anyway, that’s why I haven’t been here lately.
I am currently in Charlotte though, as we came here to meet our new niece and nephew twins. I also took Gray to see The Wiggles last night, which was a monumental event for him. That would have been like me going to meet Darth Vader when I was his age.
Oh, then this morning, we went to Discovery Place in ‘uptown’ Charlotte, which is a big museum for kids. They had a movie exhibit with props from Star Wars, which was pretty cool. At one point, after gazing in awe at the Speeder Bike from Return of the Jedi, we turned around and there was a real-life stormtrooper looking at us. Then there were 3 more. Then appeared a Biker Scout and a TIE Fighter pilot.
And what happened next? Darth Vader came around the corner. Man, that was great. And Gray is 3. This event seemed to hit him harder than The Wiggles last night, and he has been talking about giving Darth Vader a high-5 all day.
Anyway, being a grad of WWC, I though this was interesting.
The series of tubes known as the Internets by our nation’s educated leaders, never ceases to amaze me.
Today I learned that there have been over 485 user comments and reviews of Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 Gallon, 128 fl oz on amazon.com, a fact that amuzed me. The way people latch onto things like this, then spend a lot of creative time and effort to contribute to its longevity, make the Internet such a novel piece of human existence. Take, for example, this quote from the Tuscan Milk reviews:
Jug of Milk, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?
Gave thee life, & bid thee feed
The children & lay o’er the cereal;Gave thee whitest of white color;
Softest velvet taste, smooth, and soothing;
Gave thee such a pleasant after-taste,
Making sleep to soon over-take?Jug of Milk, who made thee?
Dost thou know who made thee?Jug of Milk, I’ll tell thee,
She is called by her name,
For she calls herself Elsie.
She is meek, & she is mild;
She is as dumb as a box of rocks.I a child, & thou a bowl of cereal,
We are called to use her milk.Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 Gallon, 128 fl oz , God bless thee!
Tuscan Whole Milk, 1 Gallon, 128 fl oz , God bless thee!
If I haven’t responded to an email or a phone call you have left me, it’s because I have been working around the clock trying to meet a deadline. I’ll respond soon…
And now back to your regularly scheduled programming.
